


Are We Lucky?

by miael



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, M/M, Pre-Canon, Slow Burn, Teen Years
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-04-30 17:49:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14502297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miael/pseuds/miael
Summary: This is my first RWBY fic, i’ve watched the series several times over, and I wanted more of a story of the previous generation, so I decided to write it. this is a Qrow/OFC fic. when i say this is a “slow burn” I mean it, also, i’m trying really hard to make the chapters longer. thank you for sticking around. all members of team CBLT are mine, let me know if you want more backstory of them, and i’ll leave a link





	1. Escape

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any rights to RWBY,  
> only team CBLT <3

******  
CASSANDRA’S POV  
******

“Cass?”  
“Yes?”  
“I never want to get that close to a heart attack ever again.”  
“Yes, sir.”  
I straighten myself, and my weapon as I take my place behind my uncle,  
“Remember, there’s no armor on its belly, so aim there.” I nod, while loading up my assault rifle with fire dust. He signals for me to go ahead and I roll to a nearby tree while he covers me from behind, a deafening roar comes from the manticore we’ve been sent out to kill. My uncle sprays at it with gunfire while I aim for it’s weak spot.  
“I can’t get a clear shot! I’m moving closer!” I yell as I transform my gun into a naginata, the manticore takes notice and I dive under quickly, slicing my weapon’s long blade as I go. I make a deep cut as the manticore lets out a strangled yell, and collapses into nothing.  
I get up and straighten my clothes, while my uncle shakes his head disapprovingly.  
“That was a hell of a risk, Cass, you shouldn’t rely so much on your semblance,”  
“I know,” I respond, “but it’s a job, I wanted to get it done.”  
“It was irresponsible. You need to work more on your combat skills, what if your aura gets drained and you can’t use your semblance?”  
“Uncle, it’s ‘good fortune,’ not ‘misfortune,’ the odds will always fall in my favor.”  
My uncle let out an long sigh,  
“That’s stupid.” I laughed in return. My uncle was the only person left in my family, who didn’t use me for my semblance, my brother, grandfather, and even my own father, all tried to use me for their own profit, but not my uncle. He patted me on the shoulder and stretched his other arm, letting out a big yawn,  
“Well, we should get back home.” My breath hitched at the thought of home.  
“You said we didn’t have to go home.”  
After the death of my father and grandfather, our plan was to travel Remnant, living off of our wages from hunting, and away from the suffocating control of my twin.  
“Yeah, but your brother called last night, and said he wanted us back.” I looked at him, shocked. Jacques’ semblance never allowed him to persuade anyone unless he was directly speaking to them, unless he was practicing, I panicked as a thousand thoughts raced through my head.  
“Hey, it’ll be okay. Just don’t look him in the eye, I find that makes it harder for him to focus.” I smile a weak smile, knowing it wouldn’t matter, and that he was under Jacques’ control, even just a little.  
“Okay.”

We traveled through Anima, making our way to a shipyard, where my uncle waited to board a ship headed back home, to Atlas.  
“Hey, come on, they’ve got room for us. It won’t be long and we’ll be back home.” I hesitated, did I really want to go back? I was going to be starting school at Atlas soon, but that was too close to him. I finally had broken free of his control, his curse, and I wasn’t ready to go back. Suddenly, I felt a strong arm on my shoulder. I looked up into my Uncle’s eyes, they were glazed over,  
“Cassie, we need to go home. Jacques is waiting, it won’t be that bad, I promise.”  
I tore myself away from him and turned to run, weaving through the crowd. I had to get away.  
“Cassandra!” He yelled, but I had already disappeared into the crowd.


	2. Bandits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassandra travels through Anima, on her way to Vale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one. i’m thinking of doing the next one in Qrow’s POV. what do you think?

I had been traveling on foot towards Vale for months, taking jobs killing grimm, for food, a roof over my head, or a shower. Thankfully, because of my semblance, I never went hungry. I was making my way through a forest thick with trees, adjusting my coat and my weapon underneath it; I finally made my way to a clearing, when I heard it. A low whistle, suddenly, an arrow landed by my feet. I grinned, whipping off my coat, revealing Black Ice, my assault rifle, it’s black metal catching the sunlight as I aimed into the trees, shooting a single shot of fire dust. The trees burst into flames, and suddenly a group of disheveled people emerged, coughing from the sudden smoke, I reloaded my rifle with ice dust, and shot at the trees that had caught on fire, extinguishing the flames.   
“It’s a huntress!” a man yelled, his mouth pulled back into a sneer as he spat at my feet. I pointed the barrel of my gun at him, nothing except a few panicked looks.  
“No,” another said, sizing me up and down,“she’s too young to be a huntress, this’ll be easy.” I smiled at him, pointing at him, and his smug expression changed into a doubtful one.   
“Do any of you have a vehicle of any kind? My feet are getting tired.” I said, sweetly, as the bandits circled me like predators would.  
“And why in the hell would we tell you?” the first one spat.  
“Because I asked nicely?” I said in return, transforming Black Ice into blade form, looking for an opening to attack.   
“When we’re done with her, I want her weapon.” A third voice said. I swung my weapon around my shoulders and turned to face the voice, pointing the tip of the blade at her throat.   
“Then you’ll have to take it from me.” As I did this, I heard the sound of blades being drawn, guns being cocked and the shuffling of feet. Bingo.   
“So, I take it you’re the leader?” She smiled,   
“You’re smart. If you give me your weapon, and we’ll let you go without a scratch.”  
“I’d rather not. But I’ll still leave without a scratch.” I said, matter of factly.   
“You’re outnumbered, and outmatched. What makes you think that?”  
Suddenly, a roar erupted from behind a nearby group of trees.   
“Like you said, I’m smart.” I jumped up as an ursa tore through the grimm infested trees. The panic I had caused, although only a little, would cause chaos. I made my way calmly around the bandits, leaving them to deal with the sudden onslaught of grimm bursting through the nearby brush. I ducked and dodged attacks from both the grimm and the bandits as I eventually made my way out of the clearing, leaving only chaos and death behind.


	3. Denial and Blame

****  
QROW'S POV  
****

“They’re back!” I raised my head, looking towards the gates, letting in members of my tribe. They had been gone for quite awhile, scavenging, and looting nearby villages, doing things we needed to do to survive.   
“Qrow, come on, stop moping around.” My sister nudged my shoulder, urging me to get up. I looked into her red eyes, and sighed, pushing myself off of the bench I was sitting on.   
“Maybe I should stay back. Just in case.” I said, my voice hoarse from misuse.  
“Wow, he speaks. Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice, mom will want us there.” She pushes me towards the gathering crowd, but something’s wrong. Instead of cheers and yelling, it’s silent. Raven notices this too, her eyes widen and she runs ahead, leaving me to wonder what I did this time. I then hear a scream, and I run to see what has happened. I see Raven, sobbing and holding our leader, our mother. My heart sinks as I collapse and stare numbly at the sight in front of me. This couldn’t have happened, I was nowhere near them. How did this happen? I looked around at everyone, looking for an answer,  
“It was a huntress, she was alone, and young, so we thought we could take her.” Our second said quietly, “But then the grimm came. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, it was unnatural, almost like she summoned them.” Raven’s sobs quieted, I looked to her, her brow furrowed in anger.  
“I will hunt her down, and kill her myself.” She whispered, her voice breaking just a little,  
“Raven, none of us can take down a huntress,” I then looked at the men and glared at them, “which is why we don’t in the first place.” I said, my voice dripping in sarcasm. The men looked away in shame, my mother may have died, but this time, it wasn’t my fault.   
“We could go to Beacon,” I jerked my head back towards my sister, this time she was looking up at me. She wiped away her tears, stood up, and held her hand out for me to grab. Pulling me up, her brow still furrowed, she looked around at the tribesmen.  
“Qrow and I are the perfect age. We’ll learn how they fight, they won’t be a threat to us after that.” I looked at her, a wicked grin spreading across my face.   
“Then I guess we’re going to Beacon.” It wasn’t my fault, and it wasn’t the stupidity of the men with her. It was the huntress.


	4. Exhaustion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cass continues her journey through Anima

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's just a little longer!

I was a few days away from Beacon, on the eastern side of the mountains. I never managed to find a vehicle, and I was tired and sore from the lack of sleep and constant walking, I knew there was a grimm stalking me, but at this point, I almost didn’t care. The consistent use of my semblance was wearing me down, I didn’t realize I had relied on it so heavily before this, and the bandit incident didn’t help at all. After all this time alone though, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things. For one, I know that I can bond to those I care about, for instance, I can still feel my uncle, tugging at me. It’s a distant feeling, but I know he’s alive. I still don’t know if there’s a range, or how much I can actually help him. I have also figured out how to amplify and reduce my power. But I still don’t know my limit, I have a feeling though, that I’m about to reach it, and that the grimm that had been stalking me for miles, would finally come. I wonder though, what would happen if-   
my thoughts are interrupted when I feel a drop of water hit the top of my head. Suddenly, it seems like thousands of drops of rain are hitting my head.   
“Really?” I say out loud in slight frustration to no one in particular. This was my first real sign of bad luck, I was getting weaker, and I needed a roof over my head. I suddenly changed directions, instead of going towards Beacon and the mountains ahead, I went south, using just a small bit of my semblance to make my way towards some sort of cover for the long night ahead.   
After about an hour, I found a small town, with a smaller inn. I could feel my strength slipping as I made my way inside.   
“Excuse me, sir?” I asked, my voice was weak and I trembled with cold.   
“Yes?” the innkeeper spoke, looking down at my small figure, raising an eyebrow as he looked me up and down.   
“Are there any rooms open for tonight?” He shook his head,  
“Sorry, miss. We got swamped with this rain. I can’t help you, unless you’ve got the li yen to pay for it.” I looked in my pockets, I didn’t quite have enough. I mustered the rest of my strength, and placed the rest of my li yen on the counter in front of me.   
“Sir, this is all I have left, please, I’m a huntress, I’ll do anything you need me to, I just need to rest tonight.” The innkeeper looked down at the li yen, then back up at me.   
“I can lend you a room for tonight only, but you’ll have to make good on your word in the morning.” I sighed in relief,  
“Thank you.” I said, then everything went black. 

I don’t know how long I slept, but I wasn’t ready to open my eyes yet. I felt the coolness of the sheets, a soft breeze, I heard the singing of birds, and if I listened very carefully, voices, whispering in hushed voices. I opened my eyes, squinting as I adjusted to the brightness that filled the room. I sat up quickly when I realized I wasn’t at the inn.   
“Oh, you’re awake, good.” I looked to the corner of the room, where the voice was coming from.   
“Where am I?” I asked, not taking my eyes of the man who spoke. He had brown eyes, and he looked as if he had never trusted anyone in his life. He wore a deep green scarf, and a black, buttoned up vest, with a white shirt. He was also holding a mug in his right hand, he took a sip from it before answering.   
“You’re at Beacon,” he responded in a calm, clear voice, “The innkeeper contacted me and said he had a passed out huntress. He thought you were one of mine.” He looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. “I can tell by your weapon, that you are from Atlas, and by your clothes, that you grew up with a fair amount of wealth. So, who are you? And why are you so far from home?”  
“I’m sorry? You said the innkeeper thought I was one of yours? Are you professor Ozpin? And aren’t you a little young to be a headmaster?”  
“Very perceptive, yes, I am professor Ozpin. And to respond to your last question, I’m actually the youngest headmaster in history. But I assure you, I’m very capable for the job.” He said with a grin. “You neglected to answer my questions, again.” I smiled at him,  
“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just a lot to take in.” He nodded, reassuring me that it was okay. “My name is Cassandra Gelé, and I want to study at your school.” I looked at him, hoping he wouldn’t ask anything else.  
“But that doesn’t explain why you were found with your aura depleted on the eastern side of the mountains. Why didn’t you take an airship?” I looked at the person speaking. He was visibly strong, maybe a little heavy, with silver hair that was parted down the middle and curled upwards. He had heavy eyebrows, and a curled mustache. His burgundy coat was opened, revealing a white shirt and matching burgundy ascot, held together with a gold pin.  
“Peter, I’m pretty sure miss Gelé would like some rest, let’s leave her be.” Professor Ozpin then guided the burly man out the door, and once he was gone, he turned back to me.  
“Once you’re ready, please come to my office, I’d like to speak with you, alone.” And with that, he turned and headed out the door.


	5. Anger and Shame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow talks with Ozpin

Raven’s scowl hadn’t disappeared since those men came through the gates, and her attitude towards me had worsened, which was saying a lot, considering she had already hated me for what happened to dad. We had been in Vale for two weeks now, and had already passed the entrance exams. ‘Child’s play,’ Raven had called it, and she was right, the exams were nothing compared to what we had already endured.   
“What are you thinking about, little brother?” Raven hissed, “Are you thinking about what you did to mom?” Her words stung, unfortunately, she was probably right. No matter how much I wanted it to be the huntress’ fault, I knew it was probably mine. My semblance only caused pain, it was a miracle Raven had survived being around me this long. But it didn’t mean I’d let her know that she was actually hurting me, I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.  
“No,” I said with fake confidence, “I’m thinking about how much of a bitch you’ve been.” I snapped back, she glared at me, with as much venom as she could muster. Before she could say anything back, we noticed the headmaster making his way towards us,  
“Professor Ozpin.” My sister nodded to the young man, and he smiled back, he looked towards me,  
“Mr. Branwen, would you mind coming with me to my office? I’d like to speak with you.” I turned to my sister, shrugging to her before following Ozpin to his office. 

 

“So…” I said, trying to break the silence. “You like coffee?” Ozpin chuckled a little,  
“It’s hot chocolate, actually.” We both looked at each other, “I bet you’re wondering why I called you up here.”  
“That’s one of the many questions I’ve been asking myself lately.” I said, not fully trusting the man in front of me.  
“I brought you here to talk about you, where you and your sister came from, you passed my exams with flying colors, so you obviously have training.” He squinted his eyes, studying me.  
“Well, we come from outside of the kingdoms, if we don’t learn how to fight and survive, we die.” I responded, using a well rehearsed lie that Raven and I came up with. Ozpin raised his head, and a small smile could be seen from the corner of his mouth. I wondered for a split second if he knew why Raven and I were here, but before I could say anything, the door to Ozpin’s office creaked open.  
“Professor Ozpin?” I looked towards the door, in the doorway stood a small girl. Her hair was dark and long, pulled into a ponytail and fastened by golden bands. She wore gold swirling ear cuffs and a matching necklace. Her coat was a charcoal blue color with a silver chain holding it together, fastened by a steel blue rose. I looked into her eyes, her sapphire blue eyes, and stared. She glared back once she noticed me looking.  
“Cassandra, yes, come in, Mr. Branwen and I were just finishing up.” I tore my gaze away from the huntress and got up from the chair I was sitting in.   
“If there’s anything you need to tell me, don’t hesitate to find me, Mr. Branwen.” The professor said softly, I just nodded quickly before making my way out of there. As I walked through the doorway, I mad one last glance at the huntress in the door, smirking to myself. A coat with a silver chain, and a rose. A frozen rose. I couldn’t believe it, she walked right to us. It was almost as if my luck had turned. I scoffed to myself, ‘yeah right,’ I thought, ‘my luck, CHANGING.’ Still, it was good to know that I, that WE, were close to vengeance for our mother.

 

I got into the elevator and put my left hand into my pocket, pushing a button for the ground floor with my right before placing it in my other pocket.   
“Hello, could you push the button for the third floor please?” I spun around quickly, too quickly, and fell back into the elevator doors. I looked up, there was a young woman, with blonde hair and black glasses that framed her green eyes. She giggled lightheartedly and held her hand out.  
“My name’s Glynda, what’s yours?” I grabbed her hand, she was surprisingly strong.  
“Qrow, why were you in the elevator if you needed to go to the third floor? This is the top floor.” She blushed a little, and adjusted her glasses.  
“I was working on my semblance,” she straightened a little, “it’s telekinesis, I’ve been making the elevator go faster and slower. But I’m tired now, so can you please push the third floor button.” She then crossed her arms, my eyes widened and I turned around quickly and pressed the button. I turned to look at her, a worried expression on my face, she looked back, uncrossed her arms, and faltered a little. I went to help her stand up, the elevator doors opened as she made her way towards them  
“Sorry, I guess I’m a little more drained than I thought.” She said as she walked out, “Thanks, Qrow.” I raised my arm to wave at her as the doors closed. ‘Huntsmen are crazy, constantly pushing themselves to the limit without thinking of surviving first.’ I thought. I leaned my back against the walls of the elevator, looking at the blank walls. The elevator doors opened again, to the ground floor and I pushed myself off the wall, sauntering out of the elevator. 

 

“Qrow.” I rolled my eyes and turned to face my sister.  
“What.” This time, it was her turn to roll her eyes at me,  
“You know what, tell me what happened.” I sighed,   
“Nothing, we’re good. Stop worrying.” I tried to walk past her, but she grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear,  
“Are you sure there’s nothing else to report?” I was taken aback by her questioning me like that.  
“I think you’re trying too hard to sound like a leader. Stop trying.” I pushed past her ran my fingers through my hair, and hunched over, placing my hands in my pockets, and walking out the doors of the shining beacon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this one's a little short too. I have a lot of ideas, I'm just trying to get all of the characters introduced. I'm also working on two fics at once, this one, and my twd one, if you're a fan of the walking dead, go check out my other fanfic! Thank you for sticking with me! <3


	6. Atlesians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I FORGOT TO POST THIS CHAPTER. IT IS IMPORTANT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile! not quite a year, but still awhile! Check out my other fic if you like TWD!

“I first want to thank you, professor, for letting me stay here before the semester starts.” I said to the man as I sat down in the chair opposite him. He took a sip from his mug and placed it down in front of him.  
“Beacon offers accommodations to all who are either far from home, or don’t have a home to go to. Which brings me to why I called you here, I understand that you might not want to talk about why you left home. But I need to be sure that I’m not putting my other students at risk.” He put his hands together, leaning towards me from across the desk, his brown eyes pierced mine. as if he was trying to read my mind with his gaze.  
“I’m not a threat to anyone, I came here on foot because that’s the only way I was able. I didn’t have money for an airship, and I’ve recently been estranged from my family.” I kept my eyes locked on his. Maybe I didn’t tell the whole truth, but I didn’t know if I could fully trust this man, at least not with what was really goin on. He then sighed a deep sigh, unfolded his hands and leaned back in his chair.  
“Very well, but before you leave, I need you to find professor Blythe, she’ll administer your entrance exam.” I nodded to him and got up to leave.  
“Cassandra,” I turned back to him, and he wore a concerned look on his face. “if you ever need help with anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.” I smiled a small smile at him, and turned to leave. 

The entrance exams were easy, all of the years spent had training paid off, maybe I used my semblance a little, but who didn’t? I would use everything I had to stay away from Jacques. Even if it meant living on a different continent, and going to Beacon. It wasn’t bad though, maybe a little warmer than what I was used to. But it was beautiful, and freeing, being away from the stress. I looked around at all of new students arriving, tomorrow would be initiation, which meant that tonight, I would be forced to socialize. There had been rumors of teams, and I didn’t want to be in a team with someone I didn’t know. I walked towards the hall where professor Ozpin would be making a speech, welcoming all of the students. almost everyone seemed to know each other, or had at least brought their friends along to Beacon with them. I sighed, this was going to be a lot harder than I thought. I started to take my coat off when I heard a voice speak out.  
“You think it’s a little warm in here too?” I looked over to the person who spoke. He towered over my measly 5’6” he had steely blue eyes and a kind face. He wore white pants and a grey west with a red tie. He had his white dress coat draped over his left shoulder. He grinned at me, holding out his right hand.  
“My name is James.” I took his outstretched hand,  
“Cassandra, but you can call me Cass.” I smiled at him, and he smiled back, a blindingly kind smile, his eyes crinkled at the corners and I almost melted in a puddle right there. I shook my head a little and cleared my throat. Our hands separating from each other’s grasp.  
“So, Cass, where are you from? Someplace cold I’m guessing?” I nodded,  
“I’m from Atlas, so yeah, the difference in temperature is a little different than what I’m used too. And you?”  
“I’m from Atlas also. So I know how you’re feeling, everything’s different here.” I looked at him, his face sunk and I felt as if his words held a double meaning. Atlas was known for its military based society, and a boy built like him was definitely a target for the Atlesian military.  
“Vale seems nice though.” I said, and his face brightened up, almost as if he never seemed upset in the first place.  
“Yeah,” his smile was back, “I’m just worried about the whole ‘team assignment’ thing. I don’t really know anyone here.” He placed a hand behind his neck, obviously worried.  
“Me too,” I said. “But now I guess I know you, even if I only know your first name.” I laughed, god I sounded so pathetic.  
“My last name is Ironwood. Now you know my last name too. And, if you want, I can give you my number also.” I stood there, just slightly flustered.  
“Um, yeah!” I handed him my scroll, trying not to seem too eager. He just smiled as he put his number into my scroll.  
“Here,” I said “let me put mine into yours.” He handed me his scroll and I typed my number in. “My last name is Gelé, by the way.”  
“Gelé? Like the family?” He asked, I smiled back at him. My family name impressed a lot of people, we were a family of huntsmen, dating back to the beginning of mankind itself.  
“Yeah, like the family.” I looked up at him, the expression he wore was an expression of awe.  
“Why are you even here? It’s not like you need the training anyways. I heard you’ve already gone on plenty of missions.” I looked down, slightly embarrassed.  
“Well, yeah, but I haven’t quite learned to fight without my semblance though.” I brushed a piece of hair behind my ear and looked into his eyes. “ I mean, my semblance is a good help, but I’m useless without it.”  
“Oh, I guess that makes sense.” Suddenly, Ozpin’s booming voice spoke over all of us.  
“Good evening, and welcome to Beacon. I am your headmaster, professor Ozpin. It is my pleasure to welcome such bright, young, huntsmen into this academy.” I looked over at James, who was concentrating intently on the speech. I felt weird, like someone was staring at me, but I couldn’t figure out where. “As you all know, being a huntsmen is about more than killing monsters. It’s about being a guardian to all of the citizens of Remnant. I know all of you will do well here, all you need to do is to try your very hardest, and you’ll go far.” I looked around again, and made eye contact with a pair of red eyes, the same red eyes that were ogling me in professor Ozpin’s office. I glared back at him, the black-haired boy. And he grinned. I huffed, and turned back around to pay attention to Ozpin. ‘What the hell was his deal?’  
“Tonight, you’ll be staying in the great hall, and tomorrow, initiation starts. I suggest you all get plenty of rest. Good night.” He finished up his speech, and the headmistress came up, giving directions to the great hall.  
“Do you mind if I stick around with you?” James asked, my heart almost skipped a beat.  
“Sure, you’re pretty cool.” ‘pretty cool? What the hell?’  
“Thanks. You’re pretty cool too.” He laughed, and we made our way to the hall. 

Once we got to the hall, I felt it again, that stare. I looked for the black-haired boy. I was going to confront him. I scanned the room, and then I saw him, eyeing me down with such rage. Then I noticed the girl beside him, with the same angry, red eyes. I straightened myself, and started marching over towards the pair of them. The red-eyed girl then whispered into the boy’s ear, he grinned and stood up, he sauntered towards me.  
“Hey, Cass, where are you going?” I heard James behind me, but I didn’t care. This was going to end now. I kept my eyes locked on him, and he looked to the side, with that stupid grin on his face, and changed directions. I looked in the direction he was headed, he was going outside. ‘Fine,’ I thought. ‘This’ll make it easier to yell at the guy.’ I followed him outside, and he turned around slowly, he carried himself like such a prick, acting like he was such a hot-shot. I wanted to just reach up and smack that stupid smile off his dumb face.  
“What the HELL is your problem?” I yelled at him, he just stood there with that dumb smile, then raised his eyebrows at me.  
“What the hell is my problem? I’m pretty sure I could be asking you the same thing, sweetheart.” He then walked over to the nearest wall, and leaned against it.  
“And what exactly do you mean by that? I don’t even know you! And you’ve been staring at me all day! Do you know how annoying that is? Let alone, rude?” He then started laughing. I was unprepared for that. All I wanted to know was why this jackass seemed to have a problem with me.  
“Say, have you had any run-ins with bandits lately?” He said with a voice that dripped with so much venom and hatred it sent chills down my spine. ‘Who was this kid? Was he one of them? Was he here to kill me?’ All of the sudden I had a terrible feeling, I reached behind me for my weapon, before remembering that I had put it in a locker for tomorrow. ‘Guess I’ll have to rely on luck.’ I thought, before activating my semblance, m eyes changed from a clear blue, to a blue with a golden hue. I didn’t know who he was, but I knew he was bad news. We started circling each other, our eyes locked on one another.  
“What’re you gonna do? Summon some grimm like you did to my mother?” Suddenly a nearby lamp post fell, right where I was a second ago. ‘How is that supposed to help me?’  
“Cass? What’s going on?” James suddenly appeared, seemingly coming out of nowhere. I looked to where the boy was, but he had vanished.  
“Nothing, there was just this weirdo out here asking me some dumb questions.” I relaxed a little, ‘How did he know about the bandits? And why did he seem to have a problem with me?’  
“It’s okay, let’s go inside, I met these really cool people I think you’ll like.” I followed James inside, and didn’t see the red-eyed kids again that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, I would like your participation! please tell me what you would like to see regarding Cass and the rest of the crew!


	7. Anger and Shame Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THAT

“How could you have let her go?” Raven was mad. But lately, that’s all she ever was. She was pacing back and forth in the empty classroom we had found. When I saw the huntress, Cass, in the hall, I knew she was going to confront me. And that lamp post should’ve hit her, nothing made sense.  
“I don’t know what happened, my semblance just wasn’t working.” I answered back, I can’t control my semblance, but I could amplify it, and that’s what I did to her, but somehow she was still alive.   
“How would it not work? You’re literally a walking bad luck charm. You cause bad things all the time!”   
“It just didn’t work, I had it amped up all the way, trust me. And I couldn’t just walk over to her either because that dumb jock came out of nowhere. It would’ve been obvious that I was trying to hurt her!” Raven snapped her head towards me.  
“Not HURT her, Qrow. KILL her, she needs to pay for what she did to our tribe.”  
“Whatever Raven, look, she was obviously using her semblance, that much I could tell.” Raven’s face softened a little,  
“What do you mean? How do you know?” She asked.  
“Well, her eyes changed color, it wasn’t too noticeable, but they changed just a little.” I remembered her eyes, those piercing blue eyes, hinted with little gold flecks. I knew they weren’t there before.  
“Great, we need to find out more about her. That’s the only way we’ll actually be able to kill her.” Raven started pacing again, you could almost see the gears rotating.  
“Yeah, that’d work if I hadn’t already confronted her, which, by the way, was YOUR idea.”  
“Shut up Qrow.” she snapped, I made a face at her and she scowled in my direction. I rolled my eyes and leaned against an empty desk.  
“We need to play off the confrontation somehow,” she stopped. “What if we told her we thought she was a bandit?” I shook my head at her, confused.  
“What?” I asked.  
“No, think about it, you asked her if she had any run-ins with bandits? Right? So what if you go to her again, and play it off as if you thought she was a bandit.” Raven looked so proud of herself, but it was a stupid plan.  
“That’s stupid, she’ll see right through it.” This time raven sighed and leaned against a desk.  
“Well, what’s your plan then?” I smiled at Raven, oh, she wasn’t going to like this plan. But I honestly didn’t care.  
“Honestly?” I raised my eyebrows at her, “I think we should tell her the truth.” Raven’s mouth dropped open as she looked at me in disbelief.   
“The truth? What, are you brain dead?” She put her head in her hands and let out an exasperated sigh.  
“Just hear me out,” I said, in a reassuring tone. “If we tell her she hurt someone,”  
“But she didn’t just HURT someone, Qrow. She killed our mother.”  
“Do we really need to kill her though? It’s not like mom wasn’t planning on killing her. It’s kill or be killed out there, and she didn’t even directly kill mom.” I tried to reason with her. She just started laughing.  
“Have you lost your nerve, dear brother? We came here to kill huntsmen.”  
“No, we came here to train-”  
“To KILL huntsmen!” Raven was livid at this point.   
“We haven’t even started training! How are we going to do that? Especially with so many other people around Raven! At least wait. That’s all I’m saying.” She folded her arms, and started pacing again.  
“Fine. But what are we going to do about her? She’s already suspicious.”   
“Are you going to actually let me talk?” I asked, she nodded, regretfully. “Okay then, here’s what we’ll do.”

“Raven, that’s the only way she’ll start to trust us. You know I’m right.” I tried to calm her down, speaking in a soft voice.   
“Whatever.” I told her the plan last night, and when we got back in the hall, the plan went into action. I continued glaring at her, while Raven paid her no attention. Just as I thought, the huntress glared back, never keeping her eyes off of me. We slept in turns, more out of habit rather than safety, each of us taking watch over each other, and in the morning, we got ready for initiation. While we were looking for our lockers, I spotted Cass. She was talking with the same tall jock as yesterday. I nudged Raven and nodded for her to go to her. She rolled her eyes and groaned, but went to go talk to the blue-eyed girl.   
“Hey,” I heard her say as I walked behind her, keeping my distance, but still within earshot. Cass looked towards my sister, and then towards me. I saw her tense up and reach behind her to grab the handle of her weapon.   
“Let’s just calm down now,” the big guy was speaking now. He stepped in front of Cass, as if to protect her. “Let’s not do anything you’ll regret.” I saw him reach inside his jacket, presumably for his weapon also. “What do you two want?” He said forcefully, Raven leaned behind the big lug and looked over at the small huntress,  
“forgiveness, for my brother’s behavior yesterday. He acted poorly to a bad situation.” I then saw Raven flash the first smile I’d seen in weeks, it was fake, of course. But still a smile.  
“What do you mean a bad situation?” Cass stepped out from behind the giant as she spoke, taking her hand off her weapon and placing it on the guy’s arm, signaling for him to do the same.  
“We heard you had a run-in with bandits on your way here, and well, our mother was recently killed by a huntress wearing the same coat you’re wearing now. My brother jumped to conclusions, so I’m sorry on his behalf.”  
“I’m sorry, you two are bandits?” She spoke, and puffed her chest out a little bit.   
“We were raised by them,”  
“Oh, well I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I was just trying to protect myself.” Cass almost looked sorry, and I felt bad. Only for a moment.   
“I understand why you defended yourself against them. Qrow and I both know they might not have taken you alive.” Raven’s voice was calm, and almost monotone. She was handling this a lot better than I thought she would’ve, I admit, I was a little impressed.  
“My name is Cassandra, this is James, and I promise you, I had no intention of hurting your mother.” She held her hand out, Raven hesitated but took her hand.   
“Raven, and this is my brother, Qrow.” Raven gestured towards me, and I waved my hand at Cassandra and James.  
“As much as I enjoy this little introduction, I think we need to go find our weapons, sis.” I told Raven, who seemed elated that I was taking her from the two huntsmen. Once we were far enough to where they couldn’t hear us, Raven started complaining.  
“That was awful, do you believe her? ‘I had no intention of hurting your mother,’ screw her!” I chuckled a little. And she punched my arm lightly.  
“Come on, we’ve got to make sure we don’t end up on a crappy team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about that, hopefully this makes more sense


	8. Initiation

“Those guys give me the creeps,” I looked up at James, he stayed tense throughout the whole encounter with the two siblings. He looked back down at me,  
“You don’t trust them, do you?” I shook my head at him,  
“No, I’d be stupid if I did. But they can’t hurt me as long as I’m at Beacon.” I went back to my locker, getting the rest of my dust ammo and putting it in a hidden pocket in my coat. I started walking away, with James following me, clearly worried.  
“But you won’t be at beacon, we’re going to the Emerald Forest, we’ll be out there alone, and most likely separated. Which gives the enemy, them, a clear advantage.” James had been rambling as I had started walking towards the airship. I stopped, and looked James in the eye.  
“Let me repeat, they can’t hurt me. Not at all.” James wore a puzzled expression on his face, he scrunched his eyebrows,  
“What do you mean by that? Do you have something over them? Blackmail?” Now it was my turn to look confused. He was clearly raised by a military operative of some sort, judging by the way he spoke about ‘enemies’ and ‘blackmail’  
“No, James.” I turned and kept walking.  
“Fine, if you won’t tell me, at least let me be on your team, so I can watch your back.” I turned my head, but kept walking.   
“Of course. Come on, I’m not waiting for you.” I flashed him a smile, then turned to climb into the airship, James was right behind me. When we were in the airship, a hologram image of professor Ozpin appeared. He looked the same, but tired, it seemed like.  
“Hello students, I am sorry that I cannot make it to the drop off point. Instead, I will be sending professor Blythe, to monitor, and make sure none of you die today.” James nudged my shoulder,   
“That’s a little scary,” He whispered, “I’ll try to find you as fast as I can.”  
“When you arrive at the cliffs, there will be a platform for each of you to stand on. You will then be launched from these platforms, once you land in the forest, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for your next four years as a student here.” I turned to look up at James,  
“Yeah, we’re screwed.” I whispered back.

I was falling. Free falling, I had just been launched from a small platform on top of a cliff. I wasn’t scared, I was starting my initiation into Beacon. Too fast, I spread out my arms to slow down my descent, I looked for a clearing, and once I found it, I grabbed Black Ice and transformed it from a sword to it’s naginata form, throwing it as hard as I could into the center of the clearing. I turned in midair and landed on the handle, bouncing off of it and rolling into a crouch. I stood up slowly, and checked my surroundings, walking towards mty weapon. I yanked it out of the ground and transformed it back into a sword, and tightening my grip around it’s handle. I heard rustling behind me, I immediately spun around, planting my feet firmly at a shoulder’s width apart, my sword extended in front of me. In front of me, stood a faunus girl, with long white rabbit ears, she wore a leather shirt and skirt, with heavy armor over it, I didn’t see a weapon on her, but she did have shield gauntlets. Her eyes were closed.   
“Oh, sorry,” I dropped my sword, assuming I had scared her. Her eyes, however, stayed closed.  
“Um, I guess we’re partners, what’s your name? My name is Cassandra.” I extended my hand, her eyes stayed closed.  
“My name is Leslie, and, not to be rude, but I haven’t mad eye contact. We aren’t partners.” Her eyes remained closed.   
“Oh, okay. Well, I’m going to turn around then,” I turned my back towards her, walking away.  
“Sorry, I’m just looking for someone, she’s waiting for me.” I heard her rustling again and turned to find her gone.  
“Weird,” I said to myself, I started walking towards a tree, if I could see, maybe I could find James, or at least the forest temple. Once I found a tree that seemed tall enough, I started climbing. I reached the top, and accessed my surroundings.  
“Hey! What are you doing up there?” It was a male voice, but it wasn’t James. I pretended to ignore it, I needed to find James. Suddenly, a rope wrapped around the branch I was on, I heard a small grunt and then there was a boy standing next to me. He wore white pants with a med bag attached to the leg, a yellow sweater, red scarf, and goggles rested in his mop of yellow hair. He had amber colored eyes. ‘Dammit, I made eye contact.’  
“Hey, I didn’t know if you heard, me. Have you got a partner yet?” He wrapped up what I assume was his weapon, a rope dart. It looked to be infused with dust.  
“No,” I said.   
“My name is Theseus by the way, what’s yours?”  
“Cassandra. Look, not to be rude or anything, but I’m trying to scout the area.” I looked at him, he looked upset. I felt bad almost immediately.  
“Sorry, I was just looking for someone. You seem really nice, I’m glad I have you as a partner.” I placed a hand on his shoulder, he was a little shorter than me, but not by much. He looked up at me and smiled a big smile. I smiled back.  
“I actually found the forest temple on my way over here, but I didn’t have a partner yet, so I went to find one.” He reminded me of a dog, but in a good way, I guess.  
“That’s great, do you know which way?” I asked him, he nodded, a smile still on his face.  
“That way,” He pointed.   
“Okay, let’s go that way then.” Suddenly, gunshots were heard in the opposite direction.   
“Oh no, someone’s in trouble.” Theseus spoke with a lot of concern in his voice. I looked in the direction of the shots. I sighed,  
“Let’s go, they might need help.” I said, I wanted to finish the mission, but if I was to be a huntress, that meant saving people. We jumped down from the tree and ran towards the noise. We made it to another clearing and I slid to a halt. A familiar silhouette stood in front of me, the black-haired boy. He was using his weapon, a sword, to hold off a beowulf.  
“Qrow!” I looked over to see his sister, Raven, running towards him with another beowulf on her tail. I looked to Theseus, and he looked back at me,  
“Go help her, I’ve got this one.” He nodded and bounded off to help the girl. I watched him pull out his rope and start fighting in such a fury, he became a blur of colors. I walked over to Qrow and pulled out my sword, transforming into gun mode. I aimed and fired three shots at the beowulf, it bounced back, giving Qrow enough time to look back at me.  
“What are you doing? You’re gonna get yourself killed!” He yelled at me, he planted his feet and transformed his sword into a scythe. He swung at the beowulf and it’s head fell to the ground. I transformed my gun into it’s naginata form and stabbed at the next beowulf.  
“I’ve fought grimm before, and besides, weren’t you trying to kill me the other day?” He glared and swung at another beowulf.  
“Maybe, but you really need to get back.” He transformed his weapon and shot another grimm.  
“Why? Do you really think I can’t handle myself.” I stabbed again and yanked the blade back towards me.  
“No, it’s his semblance,” I turned and Raven was next to me. There was another wave of grimm coming. I looked around to find Theseus to find him behind Raven.  
“What’s his semblance?” I asked. It couldn’t be that bad,  
“I’m a walking bad luck charm. Both of you need to leave.” Qrow looked at Theseus and I. I stared at Qrow for a minute, he was dead serious, I started laughing. He and Raven exchanged a quick look before attacking an oncoming grimm. Theseus launched his dart, attacking anything that got too close.  
“What the hell is so funny?” Qrow asked, he looked a little hurt.   
“My semblance,” I said, as I planted my right foot and jabbed Black Ice’s blade into the neck of a monster.  
“Is good luck.” I smiled at Qrow, who wore an expression of pure shock. Raven then took her blade and sliced clean through a beowulf.  
“Your semblance is WHAT?” She yelled. I shot behind her.   
“It’s good luck, things just fall in my favor.” Now it was Qrow’s turn to laugh.   
“Well, isn’t that ironic?” We continued fighting for what seemed like hours, but it was only a matter of minutes. We kept slicing, and shooting, and killing, doing what we have all been trained to do.   
“Cass,” I looked at Theseus, he was starting to get tired. I could see it in his eyes. “The forest temple.” He simply said, and then I remembered. Our original mission. We needed to stay on track.  
“We need to move.” I yelled, getting everyone’s attention. “Theseus, lead the way!” Qrow and Raven slowed down their attacks and we all ran as fast as we could with grimm on our tails, Qrow and I each staying at the flank, turning to shoot behind us as we ran.   
“It would be nice to see you use your semblance right about now!” Qrow yelled at me, taking a shot at an ursi.  
“Shut your mouth, Qrow.” I yelled back. He was right, I had been using it in small amounts whenever I was in trouble. But everyone needed a little luck now. I calmed my mind, as much as I could in this moment, and amplified my luck. Hopefully it would extend to the others, and not just me.   
“Cassandra!” I looked up, and an large paw was coming towards me. Suddenly, a pale blue light appeared in front of me. I looked for the source, that girl. Leslie, and behind her, a crazed looking girl who was smiling, almost viciously, as she shot through grimm with two red and black handguns. I looked back at towards Raven and Theseus, who had both started fighting again.   
“Theseus, Raven!” I yelled, they looked at me, while I continued fighting.  
“You two go get professor Blythe, there are too many grimm. Qrow and I will help these two, we’ll meet you back at cliffs!”  
“But-”   
“Go!” I interrupted Theseus as Raven furrowed her brows, she then nodded and took Theseus by the arm, practically dragging him out of the fray. I went over to Qrow, who had started helping the two girls with the onslaught of grimm.  
“So this is your semblance?” I asked Qrow, he winced a little, but nodded.  
“I assume so.” He continued hacking at monsters and I turned to do the same.  
“Bláznivy!” I heard the girl, Leslie yell. I looked over and the girl with the guns had been knocked down. I ran towards her as Leslie did her best to protect the fallen girl. I shot at the grimm, she punched, and blocked with her gauntlets. ‘Why wasn’t my semblance working?!’ I stopped in my tracks, concentrated, I didn’t want my luck to happen at the expense of others. If that was all I could do with my semblance, what was the point of me being a huntress? Or leaving Atlas? I took a look around at the chaos, and in my frustration, I yelled. Suddenly, my body seemed to hum with energy, I looked down at my hands, they were outlined with gold. I looked up at the two struggling huntresses, aimed, and shot at the grimm attacking them. They went down with a thud, Leslie looked at me appreciatively,  
“Take her out of here, head to the cliffs.” I ordered, she nodded, lifted the girl, and bounded off. I turned towards Qrow and he looked back at me. He seemed to be doing rather well, fighting off several grimm. I started to feel faint, ‘dammit, not again.’ I looked up at the trees, they started to shake violently, and suddenly, an airship came into view.  
“Qrow,” I said. “The trees.” I fell over, but instead of hitting the ground, I was caught by a strong pair of arms. I looked up, red eyes stared into mine,   
“It’s okay,” he said, “we’re safe.”


	9. Anger and Bargaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow's POV after the incident during initiation

I held her in my arms as the airship landed, the boy that was with her jumped out, along with Raven and the professor. Raven scowled at me, but I couldn’t help it, what if she was the only one who couldn’t be hurt by my semblance? And why couldn’t I keep her alive? It’s not like mom would’ve let her live. I knew what kind of person mom was. I didn’t know what kind of person Cassandra was, however. Maybe I’ll observe her, and if she’s not a good person, I’ll kill her then.  
“Qrow,” Professor Blythe knelt down next to me, “Let’s get her on the airship and away from here, okay?” I nodded and lifted her gently in my arms.   
“Wait,” I said, “the relic.” I turned to find Theseus, who pulled a key out of a small bag, it had a deep blue ribbon tied around the end. I looked at Raven, who was holding out a similar key, with a black ribbon. I nodded and got into the airship, Professor Bythe took Cass from my arms and placing her hands over her body, a pink glow emanated from her, and a gold one from Cass.  
“You’re healing her?” I asked. She glanced at me, then looked back to Cass.  
“No, our auras heal us, but, her aura has been depleted, I’m amplifying it to make sure she’s healthy.” Cassandra opened her eyes and sprung up in shock, professor Blythe took her hands away quickly, clearly surprised by her patient’s sudden movement.  
“It’s okay!” Theseus sat next to the frightened girl, who was taking deep breaths of air and looking around. Her eyes met the eyes of her partners, he smiled kindly at her, and her breaths slowed down.   
“Does this mean we failed?” Cass looked at the professor, with worry on her face. Professor Blythe chuckled lightly,  
“No, you didn’t fail. You made sure everyone got back safely, you did what a huntress is supposed to do.” Cass breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing her posture a little.  
“But, we’re going to need to work on the amount of times you use your semblance. We’ll strengthen your actual fighting skills, your defense mostly. Then we’ll work on the control you have over your semblance.” The professor then turned to me,  
“And you,” I blinked quickly and looked at her.  
“Yes?” I asked.  
“You were amazing, you kept a steady pace with your strikes, and when your comrade fell, you made sure she was safe. You even managed to ask about the mission, excellent performance, Mr. Branwen.” She smiled kindly at me, I just stood there with my mouth open, looking like an idiot. I wasn’t used to this kind of praise, it was strange.   
“Close your mouth, and don’t let this get to your head, you still failed our mission.” I heard Raven’s voice in my ear, I scrunched up my face and turned to glare at her.

We got to Beacon, Cassandra seemed a lot better, not that I really cared. We all jumped out of the airship and were met by the faunus girl and her partner, her partner seemed to have a crazed look in her eyes. We walked towards the school, and towards the pair. Raven stayed by my side, as we walked farther away from the rest of the group.  
“Are you two okay?” Theseus asked, he looked like a puppy, like a little golden retriever. I chuckled lightly at myself.  
“We’re fine,” The faunus girl said, “Blaz and I are tough. Right Blaz?” I looked over to the other girl, who simply nodded with an empty stare.  
“Oh! They’re back!” I heard someone in the distance say. I saw a small girl running towards us in the distance. She wore a white cloak, with a sniper rifle strapped to her back. I felt a hand on my shoulder,  
“Qrow,” Raven said, stopping me in my tracks, “her eyes.” I looked at the girl’s eyes, they were silver.  
“Raven, that’s an old fairytale. Calm down.” I shrugged her hand off and walked towards Theseus, preferring to stand next to the puppy, instead of the snake. The girl in the white hood made her way towards us, she stopped to match our pace.  
“Theseus! Are you okay? They pulled the rest of us out early on because of the high grimm content in the forest.” She spoke in a quiet voice, I looked her up and down. She was cute, actually, the epitome of cute.   
“They pulled you out?” Theseus asked, he looked over to Cass,   
“That makes me feel better about failing.” She said, Theseus punched her arm lightly.  
“You didn’t fail! You made sure we were all safe.” She smiled lightly, not believing what the small boy had said.  
“Hey,” I got her attention, her blue eyes bore into mine. I could tell she still didn’t trust me, “you fought well, don’t worry about it.” I offered a small smile, something I wasn’t used to. She giggled at my poor attempt to smile.  
“You don’t smile often, do you?” She asked. I shook my head no, I put a hand to the back of my neck.  
“Not really.” I said, my face turning a slight pink.  
“You should, you look cute when you smile.” Cass said, with a wide smile on her face. My face turned a deeper shade of red, and Cass giggled a little more.   
“So, Theseus,” The girl with the silver eyes said, “are you going to introduce me to your friends?”   
“Oh yeah!” Theseus bounced up a little. “This is Cassandra, she’s my partner, she’s really cool.” He gestured to Cassandra, she waved at the girl.   
“Hello Cassandra, My name is Summer!” The girl said.  
“And this guy,” Theseus gestured towards me, “is Qrow. He’s a great fighter.” Summer looked at me, she was about the same height as Theseus.  
“Pleasure to meet you, Qrow.” She held her hand out, I looked down at it, and took it in mine.   
“Nice to meet you too.” I said, I was starting to get uncomfortable with all of this optimism. Maybe I should’ve stayed with Raven.  
“Oh! And that’s Raven, over there!” Theseus pointed to my sister, who lifted her head at the sound of her name. Theseus waved at her, she just rolled her eyes and kept walking.  
“Yeah, she’s not much of a people-person.” Theseus sounded kinda defeated. “But anyways, who’s your partner, Summer?” Summer’s eyes lit up.  
“It’s Tai!” She said, excitedly.  
“Really?” Theseus said with the same amount of excitement. I looked over at Cassandra, she didn’t seem to like any of the overly optimistic tendencies of the other two either. Cass caught my gaze, she seemed deep in thought.   
“Students,” we all looked up to see professor Ozpin standing before us. “I’m terribly sorry for the events that transpired. I should’ve made sure the area was clear before sending you in. I am pleased to see that you are all okay.” He looked at all of us, his eyes lingered on Summer, before he continued speaking.  
“Cassandra, Qrow, Leslie, since you and your partners were able to finish the task I gave, you will be rewarded with an extra day of rest. Use it well.” With that, he turned and started walking back into the school, he then stopped and turned his head.  
“Oh, and Miss Rose, I would suggest you go inside with the rest of the students. I’m sure your partner is looking for you.” He turned his head back and continued walking into the school. Summer chuckled nervously, and bounded after the headmaster.  
“Well, I guess we should figure out where our dorms are.” Cass said to Theseus. He nodded at her and grinned. They walked towards the school, leaving the rest of us behind. I looked towards the two other girls, who had been quiet the whole time we had been walking. Leslie looked to be whispering things into the other girl’s ear. It appeared she was calming her down, I backed away slowly and turned to walk away, I wasn’t about to start dealing with crazy. I needed to find Raven, I looked around and found her leaned against the wall, glaring at me. I sighed and walked over to her.   
“Eventful day?” She asked.  
“I guess.” A corner of her mouth lifted up into a half smile.  
“Come on, we need to talk.” She put her arm around my shoulder and led me inside the school.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you guys think? let me know! also, please give me ideas on what you want to happen! I want your involvement.


End file.
